The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

25.9: Any book that has a map included...The Renegades of Pern and any book that has extra content (in this case, a timeline)...The Chronicles of Pern

Total Points: 130

Sara☺ wrote: "Been a while since I have posted...rough month. Here are the end of my points for this challenge. I am proud of myself for making my goal in points and tasks, even with the lack of books at the e..."

Sara, I enjoyed Number The Stars as audio as well. If you'd like to continue with the Oryx & Crake story, I recommend the audio of Year Of The Flood. It takes place before and at the same time as O&C but adds another dimension.

I've finished Task 25.10 – Emily – Cover you like & Graphic novel: Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2/26/10) AND Naruto, Vol. 1: The Tests of the Ninja by Masashi Kishimoto (1/19/10)

CURRENT STATS
Tasks Completed: 29/58
Tasks Partially Complete: 2
Books Read: 42/81
Pages Read: 12,524
Points Earned: 565/1100



I still want to read 2 more books, although considering I work 7.5 hours tomorrow and am in church/work for about the same amount of time on Sunday, it's probably not going to happen. But either way, I'm happy with how far I've gotten. I knew there would be NO WAY I could finish, but I've officially finished half of the tasks and earned over half the points, so I'm satisfied.

Last update for me...obviously. :)

30.2 Science Fiction - Past & Present: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes which won the award and for the current SciFi I read The Taking by Dean Koontz. Both I gave 5 stars. Both excellent...although in very different ways. Flowers for Algernon I had read before a long time ago and never considered it to be SciFi until I saw it had won an award. Its very real and very human. The Taking was crazy addictive and totally terrifying. Their only real connection was that their plots were very original.

30.1 Celebrate the end of a Decade: I read The Lovely Bones which I did not enjoy, only 2 stars. And I read Duma Key (600+ Pages). I absolutely loved this book. 5 stars.

25.1 1001 books to read before you die: I read Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies which I thought was entertaining and thought provoking. I gave it 3 stars.
Next I read The Old Man and the Sea. I guess I just didn't get it because I was bored. 2 stars.

Total Pages Read: 6278
Total Points Earned: 345

Well, this is the end of my first challenge, which I began 1.5 months into it. Completed 4 additional tasks:
5.9 Isn't is Romantic: BOUND BY LOVE by Rosemary Rogers (384p.)

15.3 What Women Want
a. Read a novel written by a female author from a series that has a female main character: PLUM SPOOKY by Janet Evanovich (336p.)
b. J. K. ROWLING: a biography by Connie Ann Kirk (155p.)

25.8 Michelle Us' task -- January 30th is inane answering machine day
a. Read a book with an unnecessarily long title: WHEN WILL JESUS BRING THE PORK CHOPS by George Carlin (295p.)
b. Read a book with a very short title: MARKED by P.D. Cast (306p.)

25.5 Abigail's Task -- Odd Man Out: DEAD UNTIL DARK by Charlaine Harris (292p.)

Tasks completed: 12
Books read: 15
Total pages 3804
Total points: 155

It has been fun!

Petra wrote: "Sara☺ wrote: "Been a while since I have posted...rough month. Here are the end of my points for this challenge. I am proud of myself for making my goal in points and tasks, even with the lack of ..."

Petra, it is on my list. Some time this year hopefully ;-)

Final 2 tasks completed.
5.3 Royal reading - Genghis Khan

25.10 Emily's task - Don't judge a book by its cover -
I found this the hardest challenge of all.
For 'making a great impression' I read Lambs of God. Unfortunately I can't show you the cover because the Australian edition is not on Goodreads. It has a stone carving of a woman's head with flowers growing out of it.
For 'it's what's inside that counts' I went to the library to see what I could find in the way of graphic novels. Each one I opened I shuddered and quickly closed it. I ended up reading Whiteout and I hated just about everything about it.

Tasks completed. Now I had better do some housework before the next challenge starts!

This will be my last task for the Winter Challenge.

I finished 25.2 (Friendship) and read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. Good book about an incredible friendship.

Friendship is one of the most important things to me. Having a good friend means being a good one as well. I love having people who I can tell anything to, they won't be judgemental. They can keep an open mind and love you no matter what.

New total: 170

Great Winter Challenge! See everyone over in the Spring Challenge! :)

Getting down to the wire, I better start submitting! :)

30.7. JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING
Read: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Fits 10.4 (Helen's bookshelf has it rated 5 stars) and 15.3 (A), I would also be inclined to say it has friendship as a main theme, which would classify it as 25.2 as well...


30.9. RACHEL LEE'S TASK - THE NEWBERY AWARD
Read: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

While I found writing style of The Underneath an interesting change from what I normally encounter, I'm far too much of a Neil Gaiman fan to lose my bias in this case - The Graveyard Book was utterly charming. While I chose to read the book, I've been told that I must listen to Mr. Gaiman read it as this is very entertaining also... but that'll have to be after this challenge is over. :)

35.3 DLM ROSE'S TASK - IT'S ALL ABOUT TIME
Read: Five Days Of The Ghost by William Bell

50.1 ROSEANN - GO FOR THE GOLD
Read: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
My Life As A Human Hockey Puck (The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle #7) by Bill Myers


Point Total: 390
Task Completed: 17
Books Read: 22
Pages Read: 7469

This is my first time doing this.....I hope I am doing it right!

5.6 The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

10.4 Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (Sandra)
10.5 The Help by Kathryn Stockett
10.8 The Call of the Wild by Jack London

25.1 The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
25.2 Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
25.5 The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout
25.8 Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
by Laurie Viera Rigler
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

30.1 Trudy’s Promise by Marcia Preston
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
30.6 Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
30.7 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (could fit in 5.2 and 5.5)

225 points

Ok this is one before last post hopefully. I may or may not finish the last book (and figure out where it fits)

So: Task 15.5 Erin from Ecuador: The Book Thief and Carolina from Puerto Rico New Moon. I loved the book thief but NOT the New Moon.

Task 35.2, I did "Northern Light": The Lightning Thief and A Northern Light. I liked both of them, although I thought The lightening thief was very silly.

New Point Total: 555
Task Completed: 24
Tasks in Progress: 1
Books Read: 38
Pages Read: 12376

This will have to be my last post for the challenge, because I'll be away over the weekend, and without internet access. I wish I could've gotten to all the tasks; there were so many good ones.

Completed Tasks:

5.7 Eying the Year of the Tiger
*Catalyst**** by Laurie Halse Anderson - READ 2.21.10
We're both born in the year of the ox. In fact, I'm only 12 days her senior.

10.2 Louis Louis
*The Diving Bell and the Butterfly*** by Jean-Dominique Bauby - READ 2.23.10
The author suffered from locked-in syndrome after having a major stroke. It's remarkable how he was able to communicate his thoughts into this book.

15.9 Out with the Old and In With the New Books
A. Longest on TBR - *People of the Book***1/2 by Geraldine Brooks - READ 1.27.10
I enjoyed tracing the history and origins of the book much more than the present time part of the story.
B. New Author - *Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories***** by Elizabeth Strout - READ 2.21.10
Loved this book!

25.4 If I Could Turn Back Time
A. *Innocent Traitor**** by Alison Weir - READ 2.25.10
B. *The Heretic's Daughter **** by Kathleen Kent- READ 2.26.10

16th century England versus 17th century New England - Both time periods witnessed lots of people being accused of heresy and condemned to death. The 16th century was also hazardous to your health because of rampant political intrigue, however I think that time period holds more appeal to me than the time of the Puritan witch trials. At least court life could also be filled with pageantry and entertainment.

25.5 Odd Man Out
*Durable Goods**** by Elizabeth Berg - READ 2.25.10
This task was harder than it looked, but this book didn't fit any of the 5,10 or 15 point tasks. I love Berg, so I was happy to be able to squeeze this in.





Tasks Completed: 38/58
Points Completed: 765/1100
Books Read: 52
*Books Read From My Personal Library: 35

30.9 Newbery Awards. I read Holes by Louis Sachar and A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. Holes won in 1999. It's hard to compete with Holes. It's an awesome book. If I wrote a book I would not want it to have come out the same year as Holes.

320 points

Saved the BEST book for last!

20.1 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - CHERYL ME'S TASK - CIVIL RIGHTS - The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Total Points: 1100/1100
Tasks Completed: 58/58
Tasks in Progress: 0

[image error]

Finished 2 more. Lucky for me, I really was snowed in today and got to lie in bed and read all day - excellent!

25.3 - Green cover with and a weapon from The Girl Who Played with Fire which was from the library - and was the main reason I was so eager to stay home and read! I couldn't put it down.

I also finished 30.3, reading Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin by Norah Vincent (283 pages), A Cure for Night: A Novel by Justin Peacock (336 pages), and Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz (409 pages) - a total of 1028 pages.

Lisa Lutz and Justin Peacock are both Goodreads authors!

New total: 375 points

This is probably my last task. It puts me over my personal goal of 200 points, and the extra time will allow me to finish up some other books I have started.

30.5 Diane's Task - Posthumously Speaking
I read The Wish List. After dying, Meg is sent back to earth with a chance to redeem herself by helping an old man she attempted to rob. 2-stars, but at least it fulfilled its half of the task so I could read the other book, Pirate Latitudes. The author, Michael Crichton, died in 2008 and this book was found in his files after his death. I enjoyed it.

That brings me to 205 points!

Finished:
25.8 MICHELLE US' TASK - JANUARY 30TH IS INANE ANSWERING MACHINE DAY

A. Read A Book With An Unnecessarily Long Title (At Least 7 Words)
And To Make Up For It...
B. Read A Book With A Very Short Title (1 Word).

Read:
A. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

B. Blankets

Finished:
5.6 IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT… - In The Fall Challenge We Read About Our Current And Dream Job So For This Task...

A. Read A Novel Where The Main Character Does A Job You Could Never Imagine Doing.

Read:
Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession

New Point Total: 360
Tasks Completed: 16
Books Read: 22
Audio Books: 1
Pages Read: 7447

5.2- SHE WAS A GRAND OLD FLAG MAKER - In Honor Of Betsy Ross (Born January 1, 1752 – Died January 30, 1836) Famously Credited With Sewing The First American Flag…
A. Read A Book That Has A Red, White, And Blue Cover. (Other Colors May Appear But R/W/B Should Be The Primary Colors Of The Book)

I read - 4 stars

10.10- FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE - Read A Novel Written By A Russian Author, Set In Russia, Or A Non-Fiction Book About Russia.

I read The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar - 4 stars

25.4 - LISA MD'S TASK - IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME
Read (2) Historical Books, Fiction Or Non-Fiction, From Different Time Periods Or Settings, Then Briefly Tell Which Time Period You Would Have Preferred To Live In. (For Purposes Of This Task, I Will Define A Historical Novel As Anything Taking Place Up To And Including WWII.)

I read Voyager- 5 stars and Little House on the Prairie- 4 stars. I would not have particularly liked living in either time period, to be honest, but if I had to pick, I'd pick the time of Western Expansion. I think I would have had a difficult time with the 18th century!

30.6- WENDY'S TASK - WINTER VACATION DREAMS
With The Economy So Very Tight This Winter My Vacation Will Be Imaginary. Read A Book That Takes Place In Your Dream Vacation Spot Then Take A Moment To Imagine That You Are There. Tell Us Where And Why.

I chose to read a book that takes place in Scotland (Outlander - 5 stars) because Scotland is such a special place for me and if i could take a vacation anywhere in the world, I'd choose to go there again. I find it to be a magical country that I feel so connected to because of our family's history. I'd love to be there right now!

Totals as of 2/27/10:
1005/1150 Points
70/81 Books Read
11/81 Books Outstanding

One more task down...

35.3 DLM ROSE'S TASK - IT'S ABOUT TIME
Read A Book With One Of These Words In The Title: Second(S), Minute(S), Hour(S), Day(S), Week(s), Month(S), Season(S), Year(S).
For this task I read The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Total Points: 920/1100
Books Read: 65
Tasks Completed: 46/58

Task 5.2B

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Total points: 130
Total Tasks: 8
Total Books: 12

I finsihed the 50 point task withThe Bronze Pen and Skeleton Lake. I enjoyed both of them and will look for more books by Mike Doogan (even though I figured out some pretty important pieces before the end of the book.)

I have about 6 more books finished, but I'm not sure where they are going to go yet. I think I'll have another 60 points or so once I finally figure it out and maybe one more book to read tomorrow.

That puts me at
405 points
8809 pages read

25.7 Sam's Task - I read To Have and Have Not and Everything That Rises Must Converge.

Yay for Diane and everyone else who's finished! Hooray for everyone who keeps on reading! You've still got time, everyone, you can do it~! *waves book-shaped fans in the air in a little dance*

Nicely done, finishers!

Best wishes to everyone else who are still working on winter challenge tasks :)

Finished Task 20.1 Revisiting the Past

I revisited the "It's Written In The Stars" task. Libra = lawyers, the law, judges etc so I read Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson. The main character is an Assistant County Prosecutor.

Wow, I am completely confused and I think I am a quick reader but with two jobs I don't know how I will have time to read as many books as the rest of you. I am just curious how everyone reads so fast. Of course I have three books going right now, I read the bible daily and I am in bible studies so that keeps me from reading others. Can someone break the challenge down for me as I got a headache trying to understand that...:)

5 point task:
6.A. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

10 point tasks:
3.A. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner
6.A. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (5 star book of Heather--within five miles of my home)

15 point tasks:
7.A. Twinkie Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger
7.B. Organized Twinkie party with friends after tennis match.

9.A. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
9.B. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

25 point task:
3. My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

Total: 80 points. Not bad for a first try. =)

Ms Anderson wrote: "Yay for Diane and everyone else who's finished! Hooray for everyone who keeps on reading! You've still got time, everyone, you can do it~! *waves book-shaped fans in the air in a little dance*"

I want one of those book-shaped fans! Obviously, fan dancing has been highly under-rated.

Michele wrote: "Wow, I am completely confused and I think I am a quick reader but with two jobs I don't know how I will have time to read as many books as the rest of you. I am just curious how everyone reads so ..."

Part of it is that I have a lot of free time. I substitute teach, so I usually have a break period during the day where I read or write. Beyond that, I mostly just hang out with my brother or grandparents, and since I live alone, I don't have to look after anyone but myself, which leaves me with a lot of empty space for gaming, writing, goofing off online, or reading. Another part is that I read incredibly fast, which is a death spiral in and of itself: if you read more, you get faster because of the practice, so you can read more books, so you get faster, ad nauseum. Finally, because I want to teach middle school, I end up reading mostly young adult novels; that way, I'll know authors, titles, and genres if a kid comes up to me whining because they have to read 20 more books before the end of the school year and don't know what to read. I've read over 800 since the summer before my senior year of college for that reason alone.

So, to sum it all up: I'm a nerd with no life, which is why I can finish the challenge.

I understand that :) If I had more time I would read more. Thanks for the comment though. I am going to start off on the Spring 2010 Challenge and go from there.

Michele wrote: "Wow, I am completely confused and I think I am a quick reader but with two jobs I don't know how I will have time to read as many books as the rest of you. I am just curious how everyone reads so ..."

Michele, since you are so busy, I'd say just pick out the tasks that really appeal to you and set your own personal goal. A lot of people who participate know they won't have time to complete all the tasks, so they set a more achievable goal--any where from 50 to half the number to whatever. If you think realistically you can only read one book a month, use that as your goal. As you can see by the readerboard, there are a lot of people who only read a few books and that's okay.
If you have a large TBR list, pick out the books you most want to read and see if you can fit them into a task. You can even list them and have the group help you fit them to a task.

Task 25.10 Emily - Part 1 - Oryx and Crake I gave this book 4 stars. This was my first dystopia book and I really enjoyed it. Not my normal pick, but sooo glad I read it! Part 2 - Fables Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 and gave it 4 stars. Surprised myself with this entire task. Thanks Emily for getting me out of my comfort zone!

You are welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed both of the books and felt pleasantly surprised by stretching your comfortable limits! I had read some posts questioning the merit of graphic novels which is what inspired me to create this task (that and the fact that graphic design both within and on the cover of a book is something that I greatly value). I'm also glad to see that you enjoyed Artemis Fowl and the audiobook version of Number The Stars for those are both on my soon-to-read/listen list! Have fun planning for Spring!

I finished MY task! Yay!

25-1 I listened to 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by Harriet Beecher Stowe on my I-pod and read 'War and Peace' by Tolstoy on my I-Phone-the Stanza app. I started it the first day of the challenge and made sure to read some everyday and finally finshed it late last night.

15-10 I read Rabbit Redux' by Updike and watched Kill Bill with David Carradine-one of my all time favorite movies!

Last but not least of my marathon of finished 1/2 read books:

25-9

The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara-lot's of maps in this one and;

'I Was a Slave in Russia' by John Noble. This has drawings and symbols in the ext and the author added an appendix with a glossary of terms as well.

Phew-one more day left!

1065 points

I think I am done with this one.

I finished 25.3-Clue.

I readThe Good Thief by Hannah Tinti (A GoodReads Author)
and
"A Perfect Poison" by Amanda Quick

I feel pretty good with my finish. Originally, I set my goal at 400, then 500, then 600 and I surpassed that by 20 points. Not bad for having to endure the Holidays inbetween! See you in the Spring Challenge-and congrats to all those speed readers who finished!

congrats, diane! :)

go leora! :)

20.3: Group read....Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass and I made several comments in the thread!

Total Points: 150

I forgot to post my definition of friendship! At this point in my life, (2 kids & 2 jobs) I think the best kind of friendship is the kind that can pick right back up where it left off.....even if a couple of months go by without communication! A great friend doesn't take anything personally. If people get busy and don't talk for a week or even a month.....neither person gets offended or thinks the other person is avoiding them for any reason. Friendship in my thirties is so much easier than it was in my teen years! Friendship at this point means having a good support group of several friends who are there if you need them.....and not offended if you don't!!!

Recently completed tasks:
25.5: The Other Daughter – Lisa Gardner 02/27

New Points: 25
Previous Points: 500
Total Points: 525

That’s it for me. I was hoping to finish one more but I can’t get into it. See everyone in the Spring Challenge! And thanks to Cynthia for pulling this all together.

This is all I'm getting done this Season!

5 POINT TASKS
1. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY – A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodwiss – retelling of “Beauty and the Beast”

2. SHE WAS A GRAND OLD FLAG MAKER – Stray by Rachel Vincent

3. The Royal Treatment by MaryJanice Davidson

4. A WINNING DECADE – People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks – won the Australian Book of the Year & Literary Fiction Book of the Year Awards in 2008

5. The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr

6. IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT… - The Sheriff’s Amnesiac Bride by Linda Conrad fits this for me because you could not pay me enough to be a police officer.

7. EYING THE YEAR OF THE TIGER – Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell – 1944 – Year of the Monkey

8. BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE – On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle

9. ISN'T IT ROMANTIC – SEALed with a Kiss by Mary-Margret Daughtridge

10. THE ALLURE OF ALLITERATION - Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

10 POINT TASKS

2. LOUIS LOUIS - Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward – Wrath is born mostly blind, then in this book loses his eyesight completely and learns to function with the help of a seeing-eye dog.

4. WINNERS CHOICE - PJREADS - The Sandman Vol. 1 Preludes and Nocturnes

5. POPULARITY CONTEST –Dec 2009 – Fallen by Lauren Kate

7. SMALL SCREEN STORIES – True Blood series is based on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

8. OH CANADA! – Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

10. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE – Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

15 POINT TASKS
1. MAKE ME LAUGH - A. Soulless by Gail Carriger AND B. Death at a Funeral

4. IT'S ALL ABOUT FUN AND GAMES
A. Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan – My favorite game is Apples to Apples and Ida B has an apple on the cover and a significant part of the book takes place in an apple orchard

5. READERS ROUND THE WORLD UNITE -
B. Romania – Delia –Embrace the Night by Karen Chance
AND
C. St Kits & Nevis – Julia –The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

6. THE SEASON OF GIFTING & GIVING
A. Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian – the heroine of this book is a photographer and my favorite gift ever was my Nikon camera from my dad
AND
B. Volunteering for local Friends of the Library

8. SILVER SCREEN CELEBRATIONS
A. Naughty or Nice? by Various Authors – Christmas AND B. It’s a Wonderful Life

20 POINT TASKS
20.1 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - BETH MN'S TASK - REVISITING THE PAST
Former 25 Points Task - Ashley Id's Task - Read A Dystopian Novel – The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers

25 POINT TASKS
1. LEORA'S TASK - 1001 BOOKS – read 2
The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth & Animal Farm by George Orwell

2. GINA'S TASK - FEBRUARY
Naruto: The New Opponents, vol 4 by Masashi Kishimoto - Friendship to me is about loyalty and trust.

3. SARA NICOLE'S TASK - A GAME OF CLUE
A. Suspects – Scarlet – Death Angel by Linda Howard
B. Weapons – Big Guns Out of Uniform by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Liz Carlyle, Nicole Camden
C. Death Angel was from the library

4. LISA MD'S TASK - IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME
After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros (around 1800) & To Tame a Highland Warrior by Karen Marie Moning (around 1500) – If I have to pick one book’s time period I’d choose the 1800s, simply because the closer you get to modern times, the better life is as a woman (at least in Western Civilization).

5. ABIGAIL'S TASK - ODD MAN OUT
The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

6. STEPHANIE US' TASK - ISLAND DREAMS – Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama – non-fiction about author’s growing up in & re-visiting Japan

8. MICHELLE US' TASK -
A. The Inn at the Edge of the World by Alice Thomas Ellis
B. Ravenous by Sharon Ashwood

9. BRIDGIT'S TASK - THE WORLD OF BOOKS
A. White Lies by Linda Howard – map (reread)
AND
B. No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole – Glossary included in the back of every book in the Immortals After Dark series

10. EMILY'S TASK -
A. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
AND
B. Naruto, vol. 3: The Bridge of Courage by Masashi Kishimoto

30 POINT TASKS

2. HELEN'S TASK - SCIENCE FICTION - PAST AND PRESENT
A. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
B. Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair
C. The main difference between these two is the romance – Sinclair’s book is highly romantic with the central issue being the romance between the two sets of couples and how it influences the issues they face; Scott Card’s book (which was amazing in every way) does have romance, but the love between various characters has a much darker side to it (obsession, control, etc).

3. BJ ROSE'S TASK - SNOWED IN AND LOVING IT
Favorite Authors from Military Romance genre: Feel the Heat by Cindy Gerard (372 p.), Show No Fear by Marliss Melton (292 p.), A Game of Chance (308 p.) by Linda Howard – Total Pages: 972

4. SANDRA'S TASK - WORLD AIDS DAY
Children of Hope by Vernon Brewer – non-fiction about AIDS victims in Africa

5. DIANE'S TASK - POSTHUMOUSLY SPEAKING
A. Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Madison
AND
B. Persuasion by Jane Austen

6. WENDY'S TASK - WINTER VACATION DREAMS
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur – takes place in Australia, have always wanted to go since I’ve heard so many stories from my Australian friends and relatives.

7. JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING
Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris would fit both the Readers Around the World challenge & Bonnie’s Task (published 2006)

10. THERESA IN OHIO'S TASK - COLOR BY NUMBERS
A. Kiss of Crimson by Lara Aiden
AND
B. Finger-Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

35 POINT TASKS
1. PJ READS TASK - FUN WITH THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM – Read 2 Books...
A. My favorite was The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society – 274 pages – 1 = 273 – “Heresies in church history” – Enchanted by Elizabeth Lowell fits this as Simon, the hero, is deeply suspicious of anything resembling witchcraft, including the gift for finding lost things his wife possesses even though he frequently checks the cross she wears, expecting it to burn her skin.
B. 273 + 250 = 523 Specific celestial bodies & phenomena - Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon – besides the obvious title, lots of references to the moon and its cycles.

2. DONNA JO'S TASK - GOING ON A WINTER VACATION
A. Tropical Island B. Tropical Dreams by Jillian Dagg & Jade Island by Elizabeth Lowell

4. ROSEANN'S TASK - READ ABOUT YOUR RESOLUTION
My resolution is to be a better housekeeper (sigh).
A. Sea Swept by Nora Roberts (swept = sweeping, housework)
AND
B. Clutter Cutters by Better Homes & Gardens
Total Points: 745 points (I think…I’m not very good at math)

I just finished 25.10...this may or may not be the last book I finish for this challenge, those darn Olympics are distracting me from reading! Anyways, I read for the first one...honestly who can resist Dorothy skipping down the yellow-brick road!? No one!
and then for the second part I read the riveting, fascinating and heart-wrenching graphic novel Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
This means, if my math is correct (and it may not be) I'm up to 430 points which is 315 points higher than last challenge!

Yay! Wow!! Yippee!!!
Completed my last 4 tasks:

#5.2 Red, White and Blue Cover: Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly Feb 26

#5.3 Royal Reading: A Non-fiction book About a Monarch: Charlemagne: From the Hammer to the Cross. by Richard Winston Feb 24

#15.1 Make Me Laugh:
A. Satirical Novel: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons Feb 23
B. Watch a Satirical Film: Kelly's Heroes Feb 24

#15.10 We Will Remember You:
A. Book Written by an Author Who Died in 2009: Prey by Michael Crichton Feb 25
B. Film Starring an Actor Who Died in 2009: Ghost starring Patrick Swayze Feb 26

Total Pages = 24, 276

Total Points = 1100

Congrats BJ Rose and all of you who have finished!!!

Complete List of Books:

05.04 - Pulitzer Prize: Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (500+ pages)

05.07 - Year of the Rat: Tunnels of Blood - Darren Shan (1972)

05.08 - Seven Up - Janet Evanovich

05.09 - Love Overboard - Janet Evanovich

05.10 - A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khalid Housseini

10.04 - Sara Nicole: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

10.05 - Vision in White - Nora Roberts

10.06 - Laura from Regina, Canada: The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks

10.07 - Marked - P.C.Cast and Kristin Cast
Tv show: Vampire Diaries

10.08 - Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

10.10 - Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky

20.01 - Fall Challenge 25.10
SAM'S TASK - Halloween Part III: Monsterfest - Read A Book With One Of The Following In The Title: Devil, Witch, Vampire, Zombie, Or Werewolf. Variations Of The Words Are Fine (E.G., The Witching Hour Or The Witches Are Okay), But They Must Appear In The Title (E.G., Queen Of The Damned Or Dead Until Dark Are Not Okay).
Vampire Mountain - Darren Shan

25.05 - Call for the Dead - John le Carre

25.08 - Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time - Greg Mortenson (Goodreads Author), David Oliver Relin
Alone - Lisa Gardner

25.10 - A Rogue of My Own - Johanna Lindsey

Maus I - Art Spiegelman

30.01 - Dying for Mercy - Mary Jane Clark
Dear John - Nicholas Sparks (made into movie in 2009, released in 2010)

30.03 - Legend - David Gemmell (432 pg)
The Definitive Book of Body Language (416 pg)

30.04 - Push - Sapphire

30.07 - Hard Eight - Janet Evanovich (5.08, 30.10 and 10.04 (Lisa))

Total Points: 300

I've just finished my very last tasks for the winter challenge:

30.3 BJ Rose's Task: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. This is the third installment in the series and the best until now. I loved how Martin develops the characters! This book is over 1000 pages, so it qualifies for this task and for my last ticket because I really like big books.

20.1 Beth MN's Task (Revisiting the past): I chose task listed as 15.14 in the task help thread, a book translated from its original language. I read The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg, translated from Swedish to Spanish. I thought it was awful, it's one of my few one-star readings.

Total points: 155
Completed tasks: 6
Books read: 8
Pages read: 3806

Congratulations to all of you who finished the challenge! I'm glad I met my goal of achieving 100 points. I love how this challenge makes me read more than I did before. =)

Yay, BJ Rose!

I finished task 25.1 by reading Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Emma. I was happy to return to Jane Austin after having only discovering how funs she is to read within the last year. Emma did not disapoint. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an important read, but unfortunately not very interesting when you know the "secret", as everyone does.

Point Total: 310
Page Total: 9759
Book Total: 29

BJ Rose wrote: "Yay! Wow!! Yippee!!!
Completed my last 4 tasks:

#5.2 Red, White and Blue Cover: Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly Feb 26

#5.3 Royal Reading: A Non-f..."

Yay BJ! I'm looking forward to your task!

BJ Rose wrote: "Yay! Wow!! Yippee!!!
Completed my last 4 tasks:

#5.2 Red, White and Blue Cover: Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly Feb 26

#5.3 Royal Reading: A Non-f..."

I hate to ruin the party, but didn't Crichton die in 2008?

My last ones
5.2B Stars in the title. I read Cage of stars by Jaqueline Mitchard. A 5 star book for me. I loved it - another new author.
25.3 a game of clue. I don't know if I can post a cover but I will try. I read Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally which has a large yellow star of david on it and I borrowed N is for Noose by Sue Grafton which I borrowed from the library.
http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/im...

I'v finished my last task for the Winter Challenge. For 30.5 I read Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin for the first part and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows for the second part.

This brings me up to 165 points.
Tasks Completed:
5.8 Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
5.9 Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
15.2 Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
20.3 The Princess Bride by William Goldman
25.10 Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
30.3 The Doll People by Ann M. Martin (256 pgs)
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (291 pgs)
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (335 pgs)
30.5 Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
35.3 The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion



Total Tasks Completed: 8
Total Points: 165
Total Books Read: 13